Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty

The abdominal area may experience important alterations due to weight changes, ageing skin or pregnancy. Not only the skin and the belly button can change their appearance, showing stretch marks or sagginess, as well the abdominal muscles can lose their tone resulting in muscle separation (diastasis) and hernias. Particularly after pregnancy the belly button area can be completely changed, with the pedicle is prolonged and the abdominal wall around the belly button is weakened, leading to both aesthetic and functional impairment.

Technical term

Abdominoplasty, Lipoabdominoplasty

Duration of surgery

90-240 minutes

Anaesthesia

General or Sedation with local / regional anesthesia

Discharge from clinic

next day

Fit for society

7 days

Back to work

10 days

Aftercare and recovery

no sports and special compression garment for 4-6 weeks

What to know before Tummy Tuck

The extent of any abdominoplasty procedure can be modified depending on your needs: from skin resection only (mini Tummy Tuck) to the floating belly button technique (hybrid tummy tuck) up to a full abdominoplasty where the umbilicus is circumcised, and a new opening is cut into the pulled down skin flap. This allows for reshaping and repositioning of the belly button. Furthermore the pubic area can be reshaped and lifted in case of sagging and subcutaneous fat collection. All the techniques are mostly combined with a certain extent of liposuction to minimize skin undermining and to decrease postoperative seromas by preserving the lymphatic infrastructure.

Skin resection only / Dermolipectomy:
Suitable for patients with small to moderate skin excess, it may be combined with liposculpture of abdomen and waist.

Floating belly button technique / Hybrid abdominoplasty:
The belly button is detached from the muscular fascia but not circumcised at skin level. It can be pulled downwards allowing a more extended skin resection without creating distortion of the belly button and without a visible scar around the umbilicus. After being pulled down, the navel is reattached to the rectus muscle fascia. The amount of resected skin is determined by the remaining distance between the pubic area and the umbilicus. This operation is suitable for patients with moderate skin excess and a high riding belly button.

Full abdominoplasty:
A full abdominoplasty at OC group is usually combined with a liposuction in order to shape the entire trunk. The belly button is circumcised, but stays attached to its pedicle and the muscular fascia. Through this technique, the largest amount of skin excess can be excised and muscle
diastases and /or hernia can be repaired at the same time.

Our goal is to create as short and invisible scars as possible. The horizontal scar will be hidden in your underwear or beachwear and can be as short as double the length of a caesarian scar. Its length however depends on the technique chosen and the extent of skin excess. A full abdominoplasty leads to an additional scar around the belly button. In this case, a special umbilicus insertion technique is applied in order to achieve as hidden and unremarkable scar as possible. At the same time, the shape and the size of the belly button is paramount for optimal aesthetic outcome.

Patient testimony

It has only been 3 months since the operation and I am so happy with the results. I can`t wait for summer to show off my new figure in a new bikini!

I.A. (34)

After your surgery and beyond…

The Ocean Clinic concept is dedicated to avoiding any unnecessary pain. We routinely perform a temporary local anesthesia block of relevant sensory nerves and the muscular abdominal fascia, thus considerably lowering the pain in the early post-operative period. This allowed us to develop a fast track system which allows the patient to leave the clinic after 24 h in most cases. With an additional combination of oral pain medication, you should be free of pain. Most of our sutures are absorbable; so generally there is no need to remove stitches.

We will provide you with a special compression garment to be worn for about 4 to 6 weeks. Do not lift any objects beyond 8kg and avoid sports involving weights during this period.

Postoperative skin treatments and lymphatic drainage is recommended. Instructions regarding the correct scar care and suitable products to be applied will be provided, which are essential for optimal, barely visible scarring.

There are non-specific risks that are connected to any kind of surgical procedures like hematoma, infection, seroma. Avoiding smoking 3 weeks prior to surgery and 2-3 weeks post-surgery to enhance the wound healing process. Wound healing impairments and partial wound dehiscence are very rare in non-smokers and can be mostly successfully treated by conservative measures. Necrosis of the umbilicus has been described in the literature to various degrees, particularly in massive weight loss patients, however it is very unlikely in a normal healthy patient.

To reduce the girth of the abdomen, liposuction only can lead to a satisfying aesthetic outcome in case of good skin quality and limited skin excess. However, in case of moderate to severe sagging of the skin and soft tissues, liposuction alone will hardly result in a satisfactory result.

Around 75 abdominoplasties per year on average are carried out by the surgeons at our clinics. They presented numerous congress participations on body-shaping, liposculpturing and scar corrections and teach at international ISAPS teaching courses for tummy tuck techniques.
Workshops are given by our surgeons for international peers on water-assisted liposuction .
We offer exclusive inter-disciplinary treatment programs for post-operative scarring and additional skin retraction. We enhance the aesthetic outcome by standardly performing simultaneous liposuction to surrounding areas, such as flanks, upper abdomen and lateral thorax, in order to achieve a synchronized contouring before conducting the abdominoplasty as well as additional skin retraction. Special programs and consultations for massive weight loss and post-bariatrics patients are available upon request.